Rejected petition Force a by-election if a sitting MP changes political party

Insist that a sitting MP who has been elected on a specific platform for a specific party, will be required to undergo a local By-election if they change political allegiance/party.

More details

They will have been elected on a specific platform and set of policies and represent a set of defined political ideals. To then jump ship to another party negates the backing of the public who will have voted for them based on a defined set of political principles and policies.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737660

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 16 January 2026
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